27 May 2013

Happy Memorial Day, dear readers! I hope you get to take a break today, partly so you can spend a few minutes, you know, in memoriam. But also so you can spend time with loved ones, friends and family! If you’re lucky, maybe you’ll get to spend some time eating outdoors, as is the Memorial Day custom. And if you’re going to be with family, and you’re going to be out of doors... you’re going to need this ice cream.

I know you’re going to freak out a little when I say this, but today’s recipe is avocado ice cream. Yes. And I promise you it’s amazing and that you really should try it. Even if you aren’t quite the avocado enthusiast that I am, I think you’ll find this is a tasty and unique treat!

I can’t take credit for the idea, though. When we lived in Nashville, there was a delightful Mexican popsicle shop that sold creamy avocado popsicles. Perhaps it sounds weird, but the avocado popsicles from Las Paletas were delicious and my absolute favorite offering from their selection (and this is a selection that includes some pretty great fruit and chocolate numbers). So when I found this recipe for avocado ice cream... well. Of course I gave it a try! With my own personal spin on it, at least.

For avocado ice cream... you need avocados. I KNOW, WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITHOUT ME.

I used three avocados and three limes. That’s some extra lime in place of the water and tequila in the original recipe. Maybe this is better with tequila, but I didn’t have any on hand (hello, I’m currently enjoying a gin phase, remember?)

You also need a food processor. I suppose you could try just mashing, but it’s better if you can truly puree the avocado.

Because my food processor only holds three cups, I pureed two of the avocados, dumped that out (as shown above) and then pureed the third avocado with the juice of the three limes.

It got all stirred together in the end... no bigs.

Then I stirred in the sugar. One and one-third cup of sugar! Go for it, it’s a holiday. And everything in moderation, right?

So that’s it as far as ingredients – three avocados, three limes, one and one-third of a cup of sugar. Done!

Once everything was combined, I stuck the puree in the fridge for a few hours until I was ready to magically transform it into ice cream:

I used the ice cream maker attachment on my Kitchenaid mixer and let it stir for about ten to fifteen minutes. After that, I wanted to stuff it all in my face-hole immediately, but I instead put it in the freezer to harden overnight. Even if you can’t wait overnight, give it a few hours, if possible. Waiting is hard, but it’s better that way!

And oh, it’s worth the wait. This ice cream is absolutely fantastic – more lime-y than the avocado popsicles at Las Paletas, but I’m never going to complain about too much lime. The only downside was that it was less creamy than real dairy ice cream, so scooping it was hard. But you know what the texture is perfect for? Popsicles. Oh heck yes, that’s on my to-do list now.

If you’re reading this early enough, you could totally get some avocado ice cream started for any Memorial Day cookouts today! And if not, well, I’m sure the opportunity will arise to try avocado ice cream this summer. Like tomorrow. And every night after that. Enjoy!

I love my avocado-in-the-morning smoothies. My recipe varies from those online as it is basically a personal variation that is delish! Instead of a scoop of ice cream (for a breakfast??? No.) I use a scoop of Slimfast FV powder, cottage cheese, a little milk and sugar. And skip the lime altogether. Oh. Man.

.

I’m a real-life red-headed stepchild, recently transplanted from Nashville, TN to St. Louis, MO, with my husband, Mr. P. Here you can read about my many projects as a real-life scientist pretending to be a designer in my spare time.